burtcomma

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We are still rebuilding, whether we like the word or not, and we have yet to determine when we will be rebuilt or if we will be rebuilt and whether our current coaching staff can rebuild us,. That is evident from the game, and now we have to see how the rest of the season pans out before we can say these kids are unmotivated and accept defeat so easily.

Thus, Hoke extension talk is way too early which was the main point. We have been mediocre overall since Bo died before 2006 OSU game, let's see how this season plays out. His players are now here on O and D and had some time, we need to see progress both in terms of performance on the field and wins.

I think we ought to be waiting until the season is over before we talk about extensions for Hoke, the key is improvement from last year both on o-line and offensive running game. Defense to improve but not as much as offense. We are not considered top 25 material this year by many experts, so an 8 or 9 win season would be outperforming last year.

For those who want to replace Hoke, who do we get instead? Not sure I see anyone available that would take this job that would be an instant and obvious improvement. Plus, Hoke goes, and there goes our D coordinator for sure.

Best we can do is hope for progress and health, I doubt we can become a Championship line in 1 year, but servicable with a mobile QB and some weapons on the outside and a screen game, maybe........All we can do is wait and see at this point, lots of work to be done between now and Appalachian State!

We were ranked fairly high early on this season before our losses to Charlotte and ISU. My reality is that the top for this team is likely to be a 1st division finish in the B1G (top 5?) and a sweet 16 appearance given what we have seen so far this basketball year to date. Anything beyond that would be very surprising to me. However, we have some games coming against MSU, Wisconsin, OSU, and Iowa that will tell us whether we have improved enough to do better than this.

I just don't get this concept of rooting against MSU and OSU except when they play us or if a loss in conference helps us win a division title. Guys, that is the kind of thinking that prevails in places like Columbus and East Lansing where they remain focused on how we do instead of how they do. Like it or not, we are living through the tear down and rebuilding phases of Michigan football since Bo died in 2006. A little humility and grace might be a good thing to acquire, before we get all arrogant again (boy, I hope we get good enough to be arrogant again someday!).

But, if you have to define yourself by rooting against your big rivals, I guess that is your choice but not mine.

People are always trying to read more into what comes out of the Fort than what is said, and have been for any number of years since I can remember being a freshmen in 1976. They confuse non-full disclosure (i.e. They are not going to give us intimate details of all the goings on) with there somehow being a wall of secrecy to be breached. Instead, Hoke is who he is, says what he thinks, does not air his dirty laundry in public, and people try to analyze it like he is one of the old Soviet Union politburo members.

Like you, it is time to accept Hoke at his word, and judge him by both his words and deeds. There is no super secret agenda or special insight to be gained by parsing his every statement. Reality is that the team is 7-5, was very inconsistent over the year on offense and on defense, appears to be short of experienced talent and depth, and hopefully those issues are being addressed and fixed by the current staff. 2014 will be another year to see if the team improves and we have an upward trajectory or if we are doomed to B1G football purgatory for another 2-??? years. All we can do is wait and watch and hope!

Once, back in 1984, while attending a Michigan vs MSU game, our boys and especially our QB at the time starting for his first year (Jim Harbaugh) were not playing very well on offense. So, I casually mentioned to my buddy and roomate at the time, that I wish Harbaugh would get dinged up because he is not playing well and I would like to see if our back-up QB would be better (Chris Zurbrugg). On the very next play, Harbaugh got his arm broke, and we wound up with Bo's worst season going 6-6. Therefore, I am not allowed to criticize or comment or make any statements regarding Michigan QB's during games whether in attendance or watching on tv! There's my superstition after destroying our 1984 season!

Watching all these multi-colored fields make me wonder when DB will be changing our field color to Maize and what corporate sponsor will be funding it? (Aflac, Dominos, who has maize as a color logo???)

They wanted a better bullpen, and better infield defense and to score runs more consistantly. They looked over the Fielder deal and his relationship with the entire team and decided to deal him not only due to the big contract but how he fit with the team. They move Miguel back to 1B where he can stay healthy, they protect him with Victor, they sign an elite closer in Nathan, they deal Fister to create room for Smyly in the rotation, and they create room for Castellanos at either 3B or OF as their best prospect. They already have a good CF (Jackson) and adding Choo makes little sense for them.

Brandon's and the new President's opinions are likely the only ones that matter. We can all claim unacceptable and fire Borges or whatever, I assume another total year end review coming after bowl game this season, important to win and show improvement to keep recruits and establish 2014 confidence. Otherwise, could be rough 2014 !

Both offense and defense were inconsistent all year. How much due to coaching, injuries, youth, talent, et al is open to debate but I think that our initial projections of 8-4 to 9-3 were all based on youth and talent levels and lack of experienced high talent levels on both O and D lines. In the end, the young guys on both the lines were up and down, and we saw D performances like OSU and NW and O performance like OSU and Iowa. Hopefully, next year will be better as the 2012 and 2013 recruiting classes get another year of experience and we bring in another talented class for 2014.

How much of that inconsistency is just the hallmark of any young team learning its way after having been pretty much a mediocre non-B1G contending team since 2006? You guys act as if it is all about effort and coaching, yet it is also all about experience and talent. It takes all four elements in unison. The team played well on offense yesterday, but not on defense and remains short of talent and experience in both areas since 2006. Each game this year saw a lot of variability in performance between the offense and defense (Akron on defense giving up big plays deep, MSU on offense not blocking inside, et al). Rebuilding our talent level to challenge for B1G titles is still an ongoing process, and that talent level peaked in 2006 (and that level was not enough to win the B1G or a BCS bowl game) and really has not returned since.

I'm not happy about where we are in terms of our team's performance since 2007, but we are where we are. Pretty obvious that we are rebuilding, and that it is going to be a longer process than we like. The talent on the roster is young, and therefore is pretty inconsistant. Lots of consternation, coach questioning, player questioning, etc are going to continue as they did in the late Carr years as Tressel and OSU eclipsed us on a regular basis. We had better hope that Hoke and his coaches that he decides to retain or hire/fire are the answer, because if they are not, we are going to suffer greatly for another 4-5 years at a minimum. We have had one good season since 2006, and that was a 2011 11-2 season with this now being abused coaching staff. Hope springs eternal, and if we continue to rebuild the talent base we will get back to where we want to be.

A turning point, a blip on a flat line, or a blip on a downward trend? We really will not know for sure until a few years from now. That goes for you too Ty Butterfield, so your opinion is based on projecting the past into the present. Let's see another data point for the bowl game and for the 2014 recruiting class before we give up!

Had a pretty damn good year, won 11 games and a Sugar Bowl, which is 4 more games than he won with RR. Now, get your data straight and recall the facts that the records Denard set under RR were against the bottom half of the B1G.....

What urgent changes? Issue is offensive line, and it looks like we have tried to play all the ones we got. Nothing can be done at this point, except to keep teaching, keep coaching, keep struggling to try and get better. The whole season has seen this struggle from Akron to UConn to PSU to MSU to Nebraska to NW and now to Iowa. We are what we are, and we are not suddenly going to get competent on the offensive line in game 12. Scream unacceptable and fire all the coaches and call for urgent changes, they all mean nothing.

RR is dead and gone, at least for our purposes at Michigan. Whatever the reasons, they no longer matter except in how they might affect our ability to hire any future top flight coaches.

When we fired RR, and hired Hoke, who else was available? Seriously, we were shunned in one sense or another by Schiano and Fitzgerald that we know about, and others (Harbaugh, Miles, ????) that are only rumored.

Who will come here after watching RR's experience? And let's say that Hoke is not the guy, then we get rid of him after year 3 or 4 or 5, now what? Who will come here? We might find ourselves in the same situation we are now, continually changing coaches and watching as we continue our sinking that started in 2007. We have an athletic director who watches film with the football coaches, do you think a hot young coach will want that?

Might we assume that RR learned a few lessons based on his experience at Michigan that he applies successfully at Arizona, and that maybe we did too (willing to pay coordinators and assistants now at least).

So, just saying we need a top flight coach is mom and apple pie, nothing to discuss. The question is, which top flight coach is willing to come here and who is he? You want Hugh Freeze? Who????

Personally, I thought one of the reasons to consider keeping RR was that we could not get a top flight coach to replace him. Appears to be pretty much what happened, at least based on results so far.